Senior Metallurgist, Projects - AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti (Ghana) Limited, Obuasi Gold Mine is currently near completion of the redevelopment phase to become a modern, efficient and long-term profitable operation. The underground mining operation has been fully mechanized and designed to produce up to an average maximum of 5,000 t/day of ore mined.

We are seeking an experienced and self-motivated person to join our dedicated team as Senior Metallurgist – Projects.

ROLE PURPOSE AND CONTEXT

Reporting to the Metallurgical Superintendent, the incumbent will lead in exploring all forms of challenges and opportunities within the plant space and build the right business case for them; consolidate the ideas into a repository and rank them with all related documentations.

For major projects, the incumbent will conduct regular reviews of the contractors’ work practices to ensure that work executed is compliant with site safety and environmental procedures, regulatory and licensing conditions and guard processing interest in such projects; monitor that all Contractors and consultants coming to the site are qualified and competent to carry out their work and they have the right clearance, security checks and medicals in accordance with site access protocols and give regular updates to Plant Management on all plant projects.

The incumbent shall be the BI champion for the Department and shall liaise with the site BI team to execute projects.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Manage Safety plan elements for the areas under the incumbent’s control
• Review application of safety standards and work practices for the refurbishment construction and infrastructure workforce to enable the safety targets to be managed and achieved.
• Apply HSE regulations with zero tolerance to breaches.
• Demonstrate Safety behaviour consistent with AGAG’s vision and values.
• Lead by example to create a safe working environment, where risks are assessed and managed, so tasks are performed without risk of injury or harm.
• Contribute to the Processing Department’s target to achieve zero reportable environmental incidents, zero compliance breaches and no events requiring public disclosure
• Utilise ‘Analyse and Improve’ tools to investigate process interruptions so that exposure to environmental risks is reduced
• Reduce energy usage by running the plant energy consumption per unit produced at the optimal rate with sphere of influence
• Contribute to the Processing Department’s objective to eliminate hydrocarbon and hyper saline water spills to zero within the Metallurgy Department
• Develop and review cyanide management protocol in compliance with ICMI Code with projects in his/her space.
• Participate in P2V and Business Planning brainstorming workshops for medium to long term planning and annual budget planning cycles to suggest areas for improvements in output and cost relating to significant changes to process, equipment, resources, creating new roles or additional work
• Prepare the Technical Scope of Works so that the appropriate commercial contract allowing for risk mitigation can be executed.
• Monitor all contractors and consultants to verify that their performance is within the contractual terms and conditions and the technical scope of work is delivered to the appropriate standard as described in the contract. This includes:
  • conducting regular reviews of the contractors’ work practices to check that work executed is compliant with site safety and environmental procedures, regulatory and licensing conditions
  • monitoring that all Contractors and consultants coming to site have cleared all security checks and medicals and are qualified and competent to carry out the work in accordance with site access procedures

• Coordinate test work programs for new brownfield ore bodies to determine the metallurgical characteristics in order to advise on percentage and processing cost of extractable gold, the magnitude of plant modification required to process the ore which will be considered in the decision making process (DOS).
• Utilising SAP, contribute to the development of work packages for Metallurgy projects ahead of the business planning process (DO).
• Contribute to work packages for routine tasks related to Cyanide
• Provide status on project work and include in the draft monthly reports including discussion of control charts (where appropriate), variances and performance (including production and HSEC&C) for each project. Using the template provided by the Manager, provide the report to the Manager for compilation by not later than the 3rd day of the month
• Review all changes logged, apply the analyse and improve process to confirm that the change was appropriate and achieved the expected result, complete the management of change process to properly document the change in order to obtain data integrity and retain knowledge in a location that is easy to refer to by all Processing personnel. Information management relating to investigation, trial and testing, capturing info and document, location and storage of information. Changes may include changes in work packages, bill of materials, material catalogue, drawings, permit to Work, procedures, Standards.
• Obtain advice and input from others within the Processing Department, operational departments including mining and geology and obtain expert external advice from the Technical and Business Improvement department or consultants
• Recommend to the Manager which changes would require a ‘for cause’ simulation of a yearly simulation of the Maintenance and Production strategy
• Draft appropriate contract/agreement for all contractors and consultants, contracts about to expire or work that will require a contractor to execute. Prepare technical scope of work for new contracts or contract variations and send to the Manager for approval.
• Contribute to the annual Processing Department budget by preparing costed justifications for authorised brainstorming initiatives and integrate into the annual budget for the Metallurgy Department by September each year
• Develop and review standard operating procedures to execute all production tasks

• Oversee the Requests for Information (RFI) and Technical Query (TQ) process, review and approve appropriate technical and non-technical documentation.
• Maintain meeting records, agreed actions, and follow up to ensure actions are completed.
• Participate in formal cost and schedule reviews to support accurate and timely reporting.
• Coordinate the process related pre-operational testing activities including function testing, line tests, hydro testing, and wet commissioning.
• Work with the contractors and vendors to ensure all tests and remedial works are satisfactorily completed and that the process plant operates in accordance with the functional requirements.
• Assist with training AGAG operators during wet commissioning and process commissioning, if requested.
• Liaise with the project team, if requested, to ensure process targets/setpoints are understood upon introduction of ore in process commissioning.
• Provide input into the preparation of ‘as built’ mark-ups for P&ID drawings (if altered during pre-operations and commissioning). Coordinate all ‘as built’ mark-up drawings for handover to AGAG.
• Inspect all refurbishment works to ensure works are delivered in accordance with applicable designs, specifications and expectations.
• Oversee mechanical refurbishment witness inspections and testing regime to ensure quality and or performance is in line with obligations and expectations.
• Proactively identify and manage change to avoid the potential cost, schedule and quality issues

QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE

Qualification

• Recognised tertiary qualification in Metallurgy, Mineral, Material or Chemical Engineering
• Professional Engineer (Ghana Institution of Engineers)

Experience 

• 10 years’ experience in a processing plant. Preferably 5 – 8 years at a management level

• Experience and understanding of total mining cycle.

• Proven experience in collaborating with the engineering department

Legal Requirement

• Plant/Met/Processing Superintendent Certification

Technical Competencies

• Management of plant performance and efficiency
• Budgeting
• Production scheduling
• Stock management and control
• In-depth understanding of Metallurgical Accounting
• Demonstrable knowledge of metallurgical processes such as, but not limited to, size reduction, flotation, leaching, desorption and tailings disposal

Leadership Competencies

• Self-driven to achieve targets and improve the status quo.
• Should not require direct supervision because this incumbent provides leadership especially after normal office hours
• Accountable
• Strong and proven decision-making skills.
• Willingness to delegate
• Demonstrates behaviours consistent with AGA values.
• Strong interpersonal, communication and motivating skills

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